Peter Hauck is a reference in the world of mountaineering in Brazil, consolidating himself as one of the most experienced and well-known mountaineers in the country. Born in Itatiba, São Paulo, he not only provides valuable information on mountaineering, but is also recognized as one of the authorities on the subject.
His journey into the world of mountains began early, at the age of 16, and since then, Pedro has climbed and explored countless mountains in Brazil and other countries. He presented the painting “Histories of Mountains” on the AltaMontanha YouTube channel and has been a columnist for Portal AltaMontanha since 2007.
Although his mountaineering career took off years ago, his story is marked by dedication and resilience. Without many resources, Pedro explored Brazilian trails and mountains before embarking on international expeditions to climb high-altitude mountains. His book “Southern Odyssey” narrates his incredible journey through the Andes Mountains, an adventure that lasted six months, where he climbed several Andean mountains.
With an adventurous spirit and few resources, Pedro explored mountains and countries on a budget, often traveling by bus or hitchhiking. His first plane trip to climb a mountain only happened in 2015, fifteen years after his first achievement on a high-altitude mountain.
Over the years, he has accumulated notable feats, including ascending virgin mountains, such as the highest unclimbed and unnamed mountain in the Andes until 2015, honoring his friend and former climbing partner, Parofes. Pedro was also one of the first to climb all the mountains over 6,000 meters in Bolivia, becoming a reference in high-altitude mountaineering.
Despite his vast CV, Pedro is far from retiring. He believes that experience and age are allies in mountaineering, stating that the greatest feats were accomplished by people over 40 years old. His dream is to continue climbing and grow old in the mountains, planning two more decades of achievements ahead.
Pedro Hauck’s climbing statistics are impressive, with numerous ascents of mountains above 6,000 meters, twice winning the Carabiner of Gold, the highest award in Brazilian mountaineering. He is a true example of dedication, persistence and love for the mountains.
His mountaineering journey began at the age of 16. What inspired you to start this journey and how has this evolution been since then?
It wasn’t a single experience or influence that made me start mountaineering, nor did it happen overnight. My first immersion was in 1994. I had changed schools and it was there that I met Edson Rodrigues, a little older than me. Known as Edsinho in Itatiba, son of a famous photographer in the city, he, despite being a repeater, was a genius. DJ, manufacturer of his own equipment, model airplane designer and mountain climber. One day, I went to his house and discovered what rappelling was. I was ecstatic. That weekend, we walked to a hill in our city, Itatiba, and did some rappelling and climbing on the rocky blocks there.
However, what amazed me about that climb in 1994 was greatly influenced by an experience my mother had in the 1970s. While she was still in college, she went with a Bolivian friend to Bolivia and Peru. The photos from that trip, with mountains standing out in the landscape and indigenous people in their typical clothing, filled my mind for years, making me imagine an adventure through those countries.
My mother married an Austrian in the early 90s, Ernst, and my stepfather also went on several adventure trips. One of them went from Ghana to Tunisia in a Kombi, and in another, to Ecuador. His photos also fueled my imagination.
In 1995, my stepfather still did not have a residence in Brazil and needed to leave the country every three months. On one of these trips, which coincided with my school holidays, we went to Argentina together. Upon arrival, in Ezeiza, we saw an advertisement for Tierra del Fuego that motivated us to discover Patagonia. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires and then left for Ushuaia and El Calafate. During the plane ride, as we flew over the Darwin Mountain Range, I was amazed by those snowy mountains.
All these events came together and, in 1998, when I met other guys in the city who went camping and climbing, I decided to dedicate myself completely. First to trekking and mountaineering, then to rock climbing and, finally, two years later, to high mountains.
Over the years, you’ve built up an impressive mountaineering resume. Could you tell us about a moment or climb that marked you the most or taught you something important?
Soon after I started mountaineering in Brazil, the desire to go to the Andes soon filled my mind, influenced both by the experience in Patagonia with my family and by the photos of Bolivia that my mother brought from her trip. One of the boys from my town, with whom I started hiking in 1998, was born in Argentina, and this brought us together a lot, leading us to plan a journey to Ushuaia, climbing mountains along the way. Since we had no money, our plan to make this dream come true was through hitchhiking.
This trip was very inspired by the story of Alexander Supertramp, portrayed in the book “Into the Wild” by John Krakauer, and it was with this idea that, in January 2000, we set out to make our crazy dream come true.
With 40-kilo backpacks on our backs, we began the journey along Argentine roads. It wasn’t easy to get a ride. We slept at gas stations, got some help and that’s how we arrived in Mendoza. We intended to climb Aconcagua, but with the money we had, it was impossible to pay for the permit and rent the equipment. We then opted for Cerro Plata, which, with 1000 meters less, was a great challenge, but still doable for those with almost no equipment. We had a tent bought from a farm, normal trekking boots, improvised clothes and sleeping bags for tropical temperatures, and we still went ahead.
During the journey to climb Cerro Plata, which lasted about a week, we met experienced mountaineers who made us nervous. We felt ashamed of our equipment. When they asked us about our boots, we said they were in our backpacks. Despite this, we persisted and managed to reach the top of the mountain. Continuing our trip, we climbed four more mountains in the Andes until we arrived in Ushuaia, in a six-month adventure!
I returned from this trip completely transformed. Six months later, I was going by bus and death train to Bolivia and Peru, to make the trip that my mother had taken almost 30 years before. On this journey, in addition to visiting Machu Picchu, I also tried to climb Huayna Potosi, a 6088 meter mountain near La Paz (this is the highest mountain I’ve summited the most, 12 so far!).
I believe these early experiences shaped me in mountaineering and my personality. I faced many difficulties, such as lack of money, equipment and guidance, but I learned on my own, overcoming obstacles and expanding my limits. Going by bus, without guides, without support to the mountains, had two consequences: either I gave up or I overcame it. I overcame it, but I can imagine the physical and mental effort involved.
You report having climbed Aconcagua independently and autonomously at the age of 20. What was this experience like and what were the challenges faced in this feat?
Soon after having lived my experiences in Patagonia and Bolivia, I felt ready to try to climb the highest mountain in the Andes, Aconcagua. In February 2002, I left for it by bus, of course! I had barely enough money to buy equipment or pay for the trip, so I went with improvised equipment and on a very economical trip. He had so little money that he didn’t have enough to pay for mules, which are essential for transporting equipment to the base of the mountain.
In Aconcagua, there are almost 30 km of trail to the base of the mountain. Considering its altitude of 6962 meters, we need to go through an acclimatization process. Taking into account the climb, approach and everything else, the average time to climb Aconcagua is 14 days, and that is exactly why mules are so important, as it would be impossible to carry food for that long on our backs.
We covered 30 km in 4 days, carrying 40 kilo backpacks. I arrived exhausted at Plaza de Mulas, the base camp. From there, perhaps due to the hardships I was facing, I managed to progress well until reaching Nido de Cóndores, at 5500 meters above sea level, where we faced a storm that lasted 5 days. Spending all that time in a tiny tent was extremely difficult, but I persisted.
During this period, food ran out. We almost gave up, but we found some packages of freeze-dried food thrown in the trash and continued. When the weather improved, we tried to reach the summit from Nido de Cóndores, but when we reached 6600 meters of altitude, my partner started to suffer from frostbite on his toes and we had to descend.
Fortunately, the freeze was not serious, and we continued, moving our camp to a location closer to the summit, in Berlin, at 6000 meters altitude. The first night after arriving there, we faced another storm, but on the second, with clear weather, we headed for the summit and reached it in just 5 hours, surpassing all the other climbers who tried to reach the top that morning and becoming the first to reach it. the summit. After so much time at altitude, our acclimatization was complete, in addition to training in carrying our heavy backpacks.
Climbing Aconcagua at the age of 20, without money, with precarious equipment, improvising and without a mule was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life.
His story includes extensive travel and often with limited resources. How have you dealt with these limitations throughout your mountaineering career?
I think more challenging than climbing mountains is doing it without money. I started very young and didn’t have the income to do things in the ideal way, which would be with guides, agencies and taking courses. So, I had to go after it and learn to do everything myself.
Improvising equipment was necessary. I sewed clothes or bought used things. Over time, I managed to buy my own equipment, but sometimes, when I finally had it complete, I needed to replace something expensive that was worn out.
This experience led me to look for cost-effective options. As fate would have it, I ended up becoming a partner in a mountaineering equipment store. This allowed me to use my experience to offer equipment with excellent value for money and, later, to become an importer of famous brands, such as La Sportiva, Julbo, Buff and Edelweiss, through Loja AltaMontanha. However, in my initial phase, when I didn’t have access to good equipment, this wasn’t an obstacle, as I always found ways to improvise.
What was your experience like climbing the virgin mountain named after your friend Parofes? What meaning did this achievement have for you?
I met Parofes in 2008 through Orkut; Parofes are the initials of Paulo Roberto Felipe Schmidt. He was very enthusiastic and proved to be a great friend. We exchanged a lot of ideas and climbed some mountains together in Brazil. In 2014, he was diagnosed with leukemia and died from the disease. The treatment had no effect and he knew he didn’t have long to live, so I had the opportunity to say goodbye to him before he left.
After he left, his wife gave me some of his equipment and a box with his ashes. He had asked me to scatter his ashes on Pico das Agulhas Negras; otherwise he would “pull my foot” out from under the bed. I ended up scattering his ashes on 22 different mountains.
Parofes was afraid of being forgotten. In 2015, an English friend did research and discovered Andean mountains above 5,000 meters in the Andes, using satellite data. I organized this data and discovered that the highest mountain in the range, with no name and no record of ascents, was in La Rioja, Argentina, so I decided to climb it.
It was a challenging achievement as the mountain was very remote and far away. To illustrate the difficulty, it was so cold that the antifreeze additive in the radiator of Jovani’s jeep, one of my partners on the ascent, froze. We left some of Parofes’ ashes there and the climb had a great impact, both in the mountainous sphere – a virgin and unnamed mountain at 5845 meters high – and in the human aspect, as a tribute to Parofes.
I believe that, with this baptism, Parofes will not be easily forgotten. The only thing is that I forgot to scatter his ashes in Agulhas Negras. However, he must have been pleased, for so far he has not “pulled my foot” from under the bed.
You were one of the first people to climb all the mountains above 6,000 meters in Bolivia. What was this challenge like and what were the learnings from this journey?
My first summit of 6,000 meters in Bolivia was with Huayna Potosi, in 2002. Over the years, on several trips, I climbed several other mountains with this altitude, as Bolivia is one of my favorite destinations for mountaineering. In 2002, Pomerape; in 2007, Parinacota; in 2009, Sajama, Ancohuma, Illampu and Illimani; and in 2014, using my jeep on an independent trip, I completed the rest.
According to my records, in 2014, no one had climbed all of the 20,000-foot mountains in Bolivia, and we were about to be the first in the world. However, my climbing partner at the time had spoken to renowned Ecuadorian climber Santiago Quintero, who was discouraged. After suffering frostbite on his toes in 8,000-meter mountains, he was discouraged from returning to the Himalayas. That’s when Max Kausch had the idea of suggesting that Quintero conquer all of Bolivia’s 6,000-meter mountains. We were not the first due to this situation. The Ecuadorian had sponsorship, while we had no support, not even for a simple oil change in my jeep. Without sponsorship, our journey took a little longer, but we managed to complete the project.
I think the project of climbing all of Bolivia’s 6,000-meter mountains is incredible, as there we find everything from technical mountains, like Illampu, to more accessible mountains, like Acotango, and other remote ones, like Uturuncu. However, the biggest lesson I learned was: if you have a cool project, it’s best to keep it a secret.
You mentioned that you believe the greatest feats in mountaineering are achieved by people over 40. How does experience and maturity influence the practice of mountaineering?
In high-performance sports, the protagonists tend to be the youngest. An example of this is football, where a 30-year-old player is already considered “old”.
In mountaineering, the dynamics are different due to the unique challenges. Although good physical preparation is essential for climbing high mountains, experience, psychological control, technical knowledge and the ability to improvise require extensive climbing experience. Thus, it is only after the age of 40, in general, that someone gathers the necessary experience to face extreme challenges.
If we look at the great feats in mountaineering, almost all of them were achieved by older people. Mountaineers like Messner, Kukuczka, Simone Moro, Denis Urubko, Conrad Anker… All these great names in mountaineering accomplished notable feats after reaching a certain maturity.
What is your main goal or dream currently in mountaineering? Are there any specific projects you are focused on or planning to undertake?
I usually say that I don’t have a big project, one of those that are the ultimate dream. If I had this big dream or project, I believe that after realizing it, my career would come to an end or take a downward turn.
So, my projects are temporary, one per year. In 2022, for example, my project was to climb Ama Dablam; in 2021, a 7,000-meter peak in Nepal, Himlung. In 2023, I returned to 8,000 meters, attempting Gasherbrum 2 in Pakistan, but unfortunately I didn’t reach the summit. For 2024, I have plans to climb Walther Penck, in Argentina, and Huascarán Norte, in Peru, which are respectively the eighth and tenth highest mountains in the Andes, thus finishing the top 10! Other projects will emerge after completing these, such as completing the ascent of all the 6,000-meter mountains in Argentina and Chile, attempting another 8,000-meter peak and other things.
We know you just climbed Kilimanjaro for the third time in September this year. What does this mountain represent to you and what was that last experience like?
Every year, I lead expeditions to Kilimanjaro through my company, Soul Outdoor Expedições. Despite being a mountain almost reaching 6 thousand meters and being the highest in Africa, Kili, as we call it, is recommended for those who are starting to venture into high altitudes.
Due to its location close to the Equator, we don’t need heavy equipment there, and we can reach the summit with the same clothes and boots that we use in Mantiqueira during the winter (which doesn’t mean it isn’t cold, try going to Agulhas Black in August!). Kilimanjaro requires 7 days and 6 nights to climb. It’s a prolonged experience, but much less strenuous than a 6,000-meter climb in the Andes. Therefore, I recommend this mountain as preparation for higher and more difficult challenges in the future.
However, a trip to Kilimanjaro should not just be a climbing journey but also an immersion in Tanzania. It’s not just about getting on a plane, crossing the ocean and heading to the mountains. It is essential to explore the beauty of Africa, which usually includes going on a safari. If there is time, visit Zanzibar, explore Dar es Salaam, try African cuisine and meet the Masai tribe. A trip to Kilimanjaro is more than just a climb, it is an anthropological experience.
With so much experience and accumulated knowledge, what advice would you give to young people interested in starting a career in mountaineering?
You already know, starting from the easiest and progressing gradually is the key! Climbing a mountain is about the journey, not just reaching the summit.
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